Tag: Cayman Marine Parks
Director: Harbour marine park not ‘safe or sensible’
(CNS) Joseph Woods, the director of the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands (PACI), has said that having the George Town Harbour designated as a marine park was not practical or sensible given that it is an anchorage area. Explaining why so much of the harbour, which was previously designated as a marine park under local […]
Port marine life still protected, say officials
(CNS): The George Town Harbour, which is now an anchorage zone and no longer a marine park after new regulations were implemented, is still protected because it remains a no-take zone, officials from the Port Authority and the Department of Environment have said. The new zoning also means that in future, divers will need to […]
Reef fish restoration, a desperately needed next step
Courtney Platt writes: Announced last Friday, the Marine Parks expansion is official and it is already in effect! Thank you DoE and Wayne Panton for your perseverance over the years! One MAJOR hurdle down… just a few more yet to go (assuming optimum productivity for maximum sustainable use is the goal). Hooray, our marine heritage has […]
Port excluded from new marine protections
(CNS): One month before Cayman Islands voters go to the polls, four years after the proposed enhancements were ready for implementation and two years after Cabinet approved them, the government has finally gazetted the regulations defining the new marine park designations and rules. The enhanced regulations, which were ready to go in 2017 following public […]
What dive sites are affected by enhanced marine areas?
It’s great that the Cayman government and the Department of the Environment plan to significantly expand and enforce the protected marine areas and increase the no-fishing and no-diving zones. But I am finding it difficult to read and interpret the maps released by the DoE with the overlapping protected zones. Can you provide a list […]
Marine protection plan gets nod ten years on
(CNS): More than ten years after the Department of Environment began a scientific survey that helped outline what expansion to the existing marine parks would be needed to protect Cayman’s resources into the future, Cabinet has finally given the green light for the necessary regulations to make it a reality. The DoE submitted its final […]
Prince urges offshore to invest in climate solutions
(CNS): The Prince of Wales turned to his deep concerns about climate change when he delivered a speech at a packed Pedro St James on Thursday evening at the end of his visit to the Cayman Islands. Having spent the day touring the islands, Prince Charles said that there was an “ever greater need to […]
Marine park expansion under review again
(CNS): Almost six years after a public consultation made it clear that the people of the Cayman Islands wanted to see the local marine parks enhanced, the environment minister has reportedly asked for another review of the proposals. The Department of the Environment has consulted, reviewed and reshaped the original proposals, which were based on […]
NCC battles conflict over spearfishing
(CNS): The controversial change in government policy from historic efforts to limit and eventually phase out spearfishing to once again allowing the importation of the spearguns and expanding their use has presented a real conflict for the National Conservation Council, which is tasked with allocating the licences while at the same time conserving and protecting […]
Conservation law under threat
(CNS): The premier has said the National Conservation Law is one of a number of “controversial” pieces of legislation that will face reform in the new administration. Speaking at a press briefing to announce the new Cabinet Tuesday, Alden McLaughlin indicated that law would likely be amended as a result of agreements that underpin the […]
Activists urge Cayman to speak-up on marine parks
(CNS): A group of community activists are urging the people to speak out about critical issues and have launched their democracy campaign with the current public consultation on the much needed enhancement of the national marine parks. The group of young volunteers are using a website that they hope will become a democratic platform for people […]
